Defense 001 - Ukraine for Founders
UKRAINE FOR FOUNDERS: Russia has built a war economy it cannot easily unwind. A generation of new companies is being built for the largest rearmament since the Cold War, most of them on non-battlefield-tested assumptions.
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Global military spending reached $2.89 trillion in 2025, an eleventh consecutive record. NATO has pledged 5% of GDP by 2035, and defense & security now comprise the largest share of Russia's federal budget.
Ukraine is where that buildup gets tested and has become the proving ground for the modern defense industry. It is where products face regular peer electronic warfare, GPS denial, and massed drones, and where feedback arrives in weeks instead of years.
It is also where plenty of Western companies have burned money, time, and reputation by approaching it the wrong way.
Our special guest tonight is Samuel P.N. Cook.
West Point '00, US Army Cavalry. Regimental Adjutant under H.R. McMaster at Tal Afar; troop command during the Surge.
After 2 tours, selected by the Army to earn his M.A. in World History at NYU and taught 3 years of Russian History at West Point.
Lived in Kyiv for 9 years. Founded the Borderlands Group on Day 2 of the full-scale invasion, with deep relationships across the Ministry of Defense, General Staff, NATO, and operating units.
Closed $58M in Ukraine sales for 15+ defense companies, with $150M+ raised by his clients.
Samuel will walk through how to sell to Ukraine: who buys and how, from the ministry to international procurement funds and units with their own budgets. He will tell us first-hand stories of companies that got it right and companies that did not.
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SUMMARY
Part I: The End of the Holiday from History. What happens to defense spending when a world order collapses? What happens when a country becomes a war economy? History gives us the answers.
Part II: Why You Must Be Battle-Proven in Ukraine. Do you actually need to go? Many serious people say you can skip the journey. Are they right? Who actually buys in Ukraine? Can you make money there? Is Ukraine too corrupt to be worth your time?
Part III: The New Security Order. Will governments or private military companies be your main customer? Can national militaries handle the breakdown of the world order alone? When freedom of navigation ends and piracy returns as policy, who provides security? In a fractured, fast-changing defense market – where should founders build, and investors deploy?
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Logistics
This format is for working defense founders. Our guest will talk for 50 minutes, then answer a few questions.
Arrival 6:30. Talk 7:00 sharp. Dinner served right after.
With questions about the event, please contact the Head of operations at 916-365-6849.